"What WOULD Jesus Do?"

Remember these little rubber bracelets? Reminders for the wearers, especially young people, to consciously try to do what Jesus would do. My guess is that most of the wearers and those who saw the bracelets on others would think: "Jesus would be kind and compassionate, serving and giving." And, this is certainly true. But, Jesus was also ironic, forceful, unpredictable and at times downright mean - like when he called his beloved Peter, 'Satan.' He even cursed a poor fig tree for not bearing fruit in the wrong season!

Perhaps, it's not a good thing to focus on what Jesus did, but why he did it. Perhaps, we can think about Jesus' total commitment to God and to living out a realm of justice and community and dignity - even to the point of death. When you read the Gospel text for Sunday - you might wonder why Jesus threw a big temper tantrum in the temple (one that contributed to the loss of his life). Maybe, you should ask why? Maybe, Jesus' outrage over the commercialization of religion, the ways that poor people were being 'ripped off', the shallowness of faith prompted his action. Perhaps we should be asking, "What can I do?" to serve God? To make a difference? To love as Jesus loved? Perhaps, is there some place you need to have a temper tantrum?

Hoping to see you all on Sunday and sending Blessings Always, Laura Lee

Texts for This Week:

Exodus 20:1-17

Psalm 19

+I Corinthians 1:18-25

*John 2:13-22

Note: The texts in bold type will be read in the worship service and the one with an asterisk will be used as the focus for the proclamation of the word.